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Friday, June 7, 2013

A few weeks ago I attended the Global Business Coalition (GBC) Health Conference 2013at the elegant Roosevelt Hotel in NYC. Long considered to be the world's premier conference on business and global health. I was rubbing elbows with over 500 attendees, from non-profit founders like Barbara Bush, founder of Global Health Corps, to other health care professionals like myself.

My favorite part of the conference was the Q&A with Michael Moss, the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter at The New York Times and author of "SALT, SUGAR,FAT: How the Food Giants Hooked Us," (who just so happens to be married to one of the conference organizers). In his book, Moss uncovers the rise of the processed food industry and it's DEADLY link to the obesity epidemic that has expanded America's waistline and shortened its lifespan. Move over BIG Tobacco and BIG Pharma, BIG Food is in the hot seat today! BIG Food companies use 'the deadly three': salt, sugar, and fat, to hook and addict us. Much like drugs, 'the deadly three,' are extremely addictive and have dangerous side effects, the most serious of which is death.

The average American eats:~ 33 LBS of cheese (3X what we ate in 1970!)~ 70 LBS of sugar (around 22 teaspoons daily!)~ 8,500 milligrams of salt daily (DOUBLE the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of 2,300 milligrams daily!)
Most of the FAT we consume comes from unhealthy trans fats in our processed foods, like baked pastries, cookies, cakes, pizza, candy bars, packaged foods and fried foods.
Most of the SUGAR we consume comes from sugary drinks. Curious about the sugar content in your drink? Check out the Sugary Drink Facts to get an idea.
Most of the SALT comes from processed, packaged foods, NOT the salt shakers on your table. Shocking, right?

It's no surprise that 1 in 3 adults and 1 in 5 kids is clinically obese and 26 million Americans have diabetes. And that BIG Food makes $1 TRILLION annually in sales!!! This HEALTH CRISIS is approaching $300 BILLION in economic repercussions. It's high time that we take our health back into our own hands by heightening our awareness of the 'the deadly three' and restricting them from our daily diet! WHO'S WITH ME?!What are YOUR thoughts?! I'd love to hear from you and I know my other readers would too!Blissfully Yours,Tatiana Ridley, CCHC, AADP